MAGNETIC BADMINTON RACKET AND MAGNETIC SHUTTLECOCK

Abstract

The invention discloses a magnetic badminton racket comprising: a handle, a shaft, a head frame including an outer surface and an inner surface and a plurality of gut strings crisscrossed within the inner surface. The head frame is provided with a magnet mounting section centered on its top, and several sockets are provided into the outer surface, spaced from each other and vertical to the outer surface. Several small neodymium magnets are fixed within the sockets, with their top surfaces exposed and flush with the outer surface. Each magnet is in the shape of a cylinder, cuboid, truncated cone or truncated quadrangular pyramid, which possesses strong magnetic attraction, is not subject to detaching and would not affect the aesthetic appearance of the racket. The invention also discloses a shuttlecock suitable for use together with the racket, to enable to pick up shuttlecock conveniently by mean of magnetic attraction therebetween.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The application claims the priority benefits of Chinese Patent Application No.201410116593.8 filed on Mar. 26, 2014, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to sporting goods for ball games, and particularly to a kind of magnetic badminton racket and a kind of magnetic shuttlecock.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Badminton is a kind of favorite ball game for most people. Sporting goods for badminton are very simple and this kind of ball game does not need a large scale sports field. However, since a cork of a shuttlecock is not elastic enough to enable the shuttlecock to bounce after falling down to the floor, the players need to bend down frequently to pick up the shuttlecock, which may make them feel tired. Thus, it is desirable to develop a kind of sporting goods for badminton which could make it easy to pick up shuttlecocks.

A Chinese patent No. CN2562810Y discloses a magnetic shuttlecock and badminton racket. As shown in FIG. 4, the magnetic badminton racket 40 comprises a head frame 44, gut strings 45 crisscrossed within the head frame 44 and a handle 46 connected to the head frame 44. The head frame 44 is provided with magnets 47, which could be mounted on the surface of head frame 44 or be inserted into the head frame 44. As shown in FIG. 5, the magnetic shuttlecock 50 included an elastic cork 51 and feathers 52 attached to the cork 51. An upper part of the elastic cork 51 is provided with a ring 53 made of iron sheet. When playing badminton, the players could pick up the shuttlecock by virtue of attraction between the magnets on the badminton racket and the iron ring on the shuttlecock.

However, in the above-mentioned conventional magnetic badminton racket 40, the magnets 47 are provided at a top part of an outer ring of the head frame 44 and are exposed therefrom, which is not aesthetic. Furthermore, the magnets 47 would always be hit by the shuttlecock when the racket is waved, the risk of damage or detaching of magnets 47 from head frame 44 would be very high. In addition, if the magnets 47 are mounted within the head frame 44, the strength of the magnetic attraction would be weakened due to the interference of the head frame, and then would be not sufficient to attract the iron ring of the shuttlecock. Thus, it is convenient for the players to pick up shuttlecocks easily.

Furthermore, it is well known that the thickness of the iron sheet for the iron ring 53 should be as thin as possible, to avoid increasing the weight of the shuttlecock too much and enable the shuttlecock to fly in the air. However, the iron sheet is subject to rusting, and the strength of iron sheet is weaker than that of steel sheet for many times, which make the iron sheet with such a thin thickness to be subject to deformation or even damage by virtue of pressure of only one finger. In addition, since mounted on the surface of the elastic cork 51, the iron ring 53 always contacts the head frame 44 and gut strings 45 during the wave of the racket, which make it easy to be deformed or even destroyed. Besides, since the iron ring 53 is mounted on the surface of the elastic cork 51, the resilience of the cork 51 would be affected, and thus the performance of the badminton racket would be deteriorated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To solve the above-mentioned problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a novel magnetic badminton racket with a simple structure, which possesses strong magnetic attraction, and magnets in the racket are not subject to detaching from the racket and would not affect the aesthetic appearance of the racket.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel magnetic shuttlecock, which is suitable for use together with the magnetic badminton racket of the present invention. An alloy steel ring of the present shuttlecock has relative strong strength, and is not subject to deformation and damage. Besides, the resilience of the elastic cork would not be affected. Furthermore, during the wave of the badminton racket, the chance of contact between the badminton racket and the alloy steel ring would be lowered dramatically. Thus, the performance of the magnetic shuttlecocks of the present invention is just similar to that of traditional shuttlecocks.

According to the present invention, a magnetic badminton racket is provided which may comprise: a handle; a shaft connected to the handle; a head frame connected to the shaft and including an outer surface and an inner surface; and a plurality of gut strings crisscrossed within the inner surface of the head frame; in which the head frame is provided with a magnet mounting section centered on a top of the head frame, and a plurality of sockets are provided into the outer surface of the head frame within the magnet mounting section and are spaced from each other and vertical to the outer surface of the head frame; a plurality of small neodymium magnets are fixed within the sockets respectively, and a top surface of each small neodymium magnet is exposed and flush with the outer surface of the head frame.

Preferably, in the above-mentioned magnetic badminton racket, the length of the magnet mounting section is ¼-⅓ of the peripheral of the head frame.

Preferably, in the above-mentioned magnetic badminton racket, each of the small neodymium magnets is in the shape of a cylinder with a diameter of 4 mm and a height of 5 mm, and has a shape matching with that of a corresponding socket to enable to be tightly fitted to the corresponding socket.

Preferably, in the above-mentioned magnetic badminton racket, each of the small neodymium magnets is in the shape of a cuboid with a cross section in a size of 4 mm×4 mm and a height of 5 mm, and has a shape matching with that of a corresponding socket to enable to be tightly fitted to the corresponding socket.

Preferably, in the above-mentioned magnetic badminton racket, each of the small neodymium magnets is in the shape of a truncated cone, and has a top surface with a diameter of 4 mm, a bottom surface with a diameter of 6 mm and a height of 5 mm; and each of small neodymium magnets has a shape matching with that of a corresponding socket to enable to be tightly fitted to the corresponding socket.

Preferably, in the above-mentioned magnetic badminton racket, each of the small neodymium magnets is in the shape of a truncated quadrangular pyramid, and has a top surface with a size of 4 mm×4 mm, a bottom surface with a size of 6 mm×6 mm and a height of 5 mm; and each of the small neodymium magnets has a shape matching with that of a corresponding socket to enable to be tightly fitted to the corresponding socket.

Preferably, in the above-mentioned magnetic badminton racket, the head frame and the shaft are made of carbon fiber, resin, nano-resin, plastics, wood, iron, aluminum alloy, titanium alloy or other suitable alloys.

Preferably, in the above-mentioned magnetic badminton racket, the handle is made of carbon fiber, wood or suitable alloys.

According to the present invention, a shuttlecock is provided which may comprise: an elastic cork consisted of a bottom in the shape of a semi-sphere and a cylinder; a body connected to the elastic cork and comprising a plurality of feathers mounted on a top of the cylinder of the elastic cork; in which an alloy steel ring fixedly covers the top of the cylinder of the elastic cork near the feathers.

The above-mentioned shuttlecock is suitable for use together with the above-mentioned magnetic badminton racket, in which the small neodymium magnets in the head frame of the magnetic badminton racket attract the alloy steel ring of the shuttlecock by virtue of magnetic attraction.

According to the present invention, the magnetic badminton racket has a simple structure and possesses strong magnetic attraction. The magnets in the racket are not subject to detaching from the racket and would not affect the aesthetic appearance of the racket. The alloy steel ring of the present shuttlecock has relative strong strength, and is not subject to deformation and damage. Besides, the resilience of the elastic cork would not be affected. Furthermore, during the wave of the badminton racket, the chance of contact between the badminton racket and the alloy steel ring would be lowered dramatically. Thus, the performance of the magnetic shuttlecocks of the present invention is just similar to that of traditional shuttlecocks. The magnets mounted in the head frame could attract the alloy steel ring of the shuttlecock by virtue of magnetic attraction, to enable users to pick up shuttlecock conveniently.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The various embodiments of the magnetic badminton racket and the magnetic shuttlecock according to the present invention will be described in details with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of structure of a magnetic badminton racket according the present invention;

FIG. 2a is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view of a magnet mounting section A shown in FIG. 1, illustrating structure of a first embodiment of the magnetic badminton racket according to the present invention;

FIG. 2b is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view of a magnet mounting section A shown in FIG. 1, illustrating structure of a second embodiment of the magnetic badminton racket according to the present invention;

FIG. 2c is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view of a magnet mounting section A shown in FIG. 1, illustrating structure of a third embodiment of the magnetic badminton racket according to the present invention;

FIG. 2d is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view of a magnet mounting section A shown in FIG. 1, illustrating structure of a fourth embodiment of the magnetic badminton racket according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of an embodiment of a magnetic shuttlecock according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a magnetic shuttlecock in the prior art; and

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of a magnetic shuttlecock in the prior art.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The structures of various embodiments of the magnetic badminton racket and magnetic shuttlecock of the present invention will be described as examples with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, it should be understood that the embodiments should not be construed as limitation to the protective scope of the present invention. In the accompanying drawings, the same component is illustrated by the same reference numeral.

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic structure of the magnetic badminton racket of the present invention. Each of FIGS. 2a-2d schematically illustrates a cross-sectional structure of a magnet mounting section in each embodiment of the present magnetic badminton racket.

In the first embodiment of the magnetic badminton racket of the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2a, the magnetic badminton racket 1 comprises a handle 3, a shaft 5 connected to the handle 3, a head frame 7 connected to the shaft 5 and including an outer surface 8 and an inner surface 9, and a plurality of gut strings 10 crisscrossed within the inner surface 9 (the gut strings are omitted in FIG. 2a). The head frame 7 is provided with a magnet mounting section A centered on a top of the head frame, and the length of the magnet mounting section A is about ¼-⅓ of the peripheral of the head frame 7. Within the magnet mounting section A, a plurality of sockets 13a are provided into the outer surface 8, which are spaced from each other and vertical to the outer surface 8. A small neodymium magnet 15a is fixed within each socket 13a, and a top surface 16a of each small neodymium magnet 15a is exposed and flush with the outer surface 8. Each small neodymium magnet 15a is in the shape of a cylinder, with a diameter of 4 mm and a height of 5 mm. Each small neodymium magnet 15a has a shape matching with that of a corresponding socket 13a, to enable to be tightly fitted to the corresponding socket 13a.

FIGS. 2b-2d respectively illustrate structures of the second to fourth embodiments of the present magnetic badminton racket. The differences of each of the second to fourth embodiments from the first embodiment are only in the structure of the sockets within the magnet mounting section and the structure of the small neodymium magnets. In this connection, except for the differences, the detailed description of the second to fourth embodiments will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 2b, in the second embodiment of the present magnetic badminton racket, each of the small neodymium magnets 15b is in the shape of a cuboid and has a top surface 16b. Each small neodymium magnet has a cross section with a size of 4 mm×4 mm and a height of 5 mm. Each small neodymium magnet 15b has a shape matching with that of a corresponding socket 13b, to enable to be tightly fitted to the corresponding socket 13b.

As shown in FIG. 2c, in the third embodiment of the present magnetic badminton racket, each of the small neodymium magnets 15c is in the shape of a truncated cone, and has a top surface 16c with a diameter of 4 mm, a bottom surface with a diameter of 6 mm and a height of 5 mm. Each small neodymium magnet 15c has a shape matching with that of a corresponding socket 13c, to enable to be tightly fitted to the corresponding socket 13c.

As shown in FIG. 2d, in the fourth embodiment of the present magnetic badminton racket, each of the small neodymium magnets 15d is in the shape of a truncated quadrangular pyramid and has a top surface 16d with a size of 4 mm×4 mm, a bottom surface with a size of 6 mm×6 mm and a height of 5 mm. Each small neodymium magnet 15d has a shape matching with that of a corresponding socket 13d, to enable to be tightly fitted to the corresponding socket 13d.

The head frame 7 and the shaft 5 could be made of carbon fiber, resin, nano-resin, plastics, wood, iron, aluminum alloy, titanium alloy or other suitable alloys. The handle 3 could be made of carbon fiber, wood or suitable alloys. Each of the small neodymium magnets 15a-15d of the present invention has a weight less than 1 gram, which belongs to a kind of light-weight permanent magnet with strong magnetic attraction. The small neodymium magnets 15a-15d are inserted into the outer surface 8 within the magnet mounting section A in a semi-open manner, in which only the top surface 16a-16d therefore are exposed, while the rest parts thereof are all embedded in the head frame 7. On one hand the small neodymium magnets would not affect the aesthetic appearance of the present magnetic badminton racket and are not subject to detaching from the head frame, and on the other hand the strength of the magnetic attraction of the small neodymium magnets would not be weakened. The performance of the present magnetic badminton racket 1 is almost the same as that of the traditional badminton racket.

FIG. 3 illustrates the structure of an embodiment of a magnetic shuttlecock according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the present magnetic shuttlecock 21 includes an elastic cork 23 which is consisted of a bottom 24 in the shape of a semi-sphere and a cylinder 25. A body 27 of the shuttlecock 21 is connected to the elastic cork 23, and comprises a plurality of (such as 16) feathers 28 mounted on a top 30 of the cylinder 25 of the elastic cork 23. The shuttlecock 21 is further provided with an alloy steel ring 32 which fixedly covers the top 30 of the cylinder 25 of the elastic cork 23 near the feathers 28. The alloy steel ring 32 of the present invention has relative strong strength, and is not subject to deformation and damage. It is more important that the resilience of the elastic cork 23 would not be affected since the position of the alloy steel ring 32 is near to the feather 28. Furthermore, during the wave of the badminton racket 1, the chance of contact between the badminton racket 1 and the alloy steel ring 32 would be lowered dramatically. The performance of the magnetic shuttlecocks 21 of the present invention is just similar to that of traditional shuttlecocks. The magnetic shuttlecocks 21 of the present invention are suitable for use together with the magnetic badminton rackets 1 of the present invention. The magnets mounted in the head frame 7 could attract the alloy steel ring 32 of the shuttlecock 21 by virtue of magnetic attraction, to enable users to pick up shuttlecock 21 conveniently.

Although several embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described with reference to the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art should understand that various changes and modifications can be made to the embodiments without departing the principles and spirits of the present invention and they still fall into the scope of claims and the equivalent thereof.

Claims

1. A magnetic badminton racket comprising:

a handle;

a shaft connected to the handle;

a head frame connected to the shaft and including an outer surface and an inner surface; and

a plurality of gut strings crisscrossed within the inner surface of the head frame;

wherein the head frame is provided with a magnet mounting section centered on a top of the head frame, and a plurality of sockets are provided into the outer surface of the head frame within the magnet mounting section and are spaced from each other and vertical to the outer surface of the head frame;

wherein a plurality of small neodymium magnets are fixed within the sockets respectively, and a top surface of each small neodymium magnet is exposed and flush with the outer surface of the head frame.

2. The magnetic badminton racket of claim 1, wherein the length of the magnet mounting section is ¼-⅓ of the peripheral of the head frame.

3. The magnetic badminton racket of claim 1, wherein each of the small neodymium magnets is in the shape of a cylinder with a diameter of 4 mm and a height of 5 mm, and has a shape matching with that of a corresponding socket to enable to be tightly fitted to the corresponding socket.

4. The magnetic badminton racket of claim 1, wherein each of the small neodymium magnets is in the shape of a cuboid with a cross section in a size of 4 mm×4 mm and a height of 5 mm, and has a shape matching with that of a corresponding socket to enable to be tightly fitted to the corresponding socket.

5. The magnetic badminton racket of claim 1, wherein each of the small neodymium magnets is in the shape of a truncated cone, and has a top surface with a diameter of 4 mm, a bottom surface with a diameter of 6 mm and a height of 5 mm; and each of small neodymium magnets has a shape matching with that of a corresponding socket to enable to be tightly fitted to the corresponding socket.

6. The magnetic badminton racket of claim 1, wherein each of the small neodymium magnets is in the shape of a truncated quadrangular pyramid, and has a top surface with a size of 4 mm×4 mm, a bottom surface with a size of 6 mm×6 mm and a height of 5 mm; and each of the small neodymium magnets has a shape matching with that of a corresponding socket to enable to be tightly fitted to the corresponding socket.

7. The magnetic badminton racket of claim 1, wherein the head frame and the shaft are made of carbon fiber, resin, nano-resin, plastics, wood, iron, aluminum alloy, titanium alloy or other suitable alloys.

8. The magnetic badminton racket of claim 1, wherein the handle is made of carbon fiber, wood or suitable alloys.

9. A shuttlecock comprising:

an elastic cork consisted of a bottom in the shape of a semi-sphere and a cylinder;

a body connected to the elastic cork and comprising a plurality of feathers mounted on a top of the cylinder of the elastic cork;

wherein an alloy steel ring fixedly covers the top of the cylinder of the elastic cork near the feathers.

10. The shuttlecock of claim 9, wherein the shuttlecock is suitable for use together with a magnetic badminton racket having small neodymium magnets in the head frame of the magnetic badminton racket attracted to the alloy steel ring of the shuttlecock by virtue of magnetic attraction.